Community Capacity Enhancement Workshop amplifies the voices in ELCSA-SED

The participants of the ELCSA-SED Community Capacity Enhancement Workshop from September 7-11, 2015 in Umpumulo, South Africa. Photo: Allison Westerhoff

Allison WesterhoffUmpumulo, South Africa, 12 September 2015

The Community Capacity Enhancement workshop for ELCSA-SED took place from September 7-12 2015 in Umpumulo, South Africa. Each circuit within the South Eastern Diocese was asked to send the circuit dean, the HIV & AIDS resource person, and a community member to participate in the workshop. During the five days, each participant was equipped with critical thinking about how to approach and assist their communities with issues of HIV & AIDS. Ms. Rose Tindwa, a Community Capacity Enhancement consultant from Zimbabwe, led several sessions to offer her experience in community growth and empowerment. Ms. Tindwa was brought in by LUCSA to assist Mr. Njabulo Mnguni and Ms. Busisiwe Dube, both LUCSA HIV & AIDS officers.

The workshop offered a chance for the participants to take a “transect walk” through the community next to the ELCSA-SED compound to look for opportunities to enhance the community in a positive way. The groups saw examples of “green grass”, the areas that are positive aspects of the community, such as primary schools, safe areas for children to play, and a hospital. The groups also saw examples of “dry grass” which are areas that are negative aspects of the community, such as poorly marked roads where the children from the schools walk, taverns, and areas that were prone to crime.

Ms. Tindwa led the participants in a very moving session of story-telling. She led the group through a fictitious story surrounding a girl who was pregnant and infected with HIV, and did not know if she should tell her fiancé even after Lobola was paid. The participants were invited to take on roles of different characters in the story and this allowed for the group to bring out the burning issues surrounding the topic of HIV. By the end of the fourth day, the participants had a full tool kit of activities to use towards enhancing their community, and began planning for the following day where they engaged members of the Umpumulo community in relationship building and concern identification.

Friday morning, students from the local school and elders from the community gathered for the community conversation. Participants of the C.C.E. workshop facilitated a two hour conversation, and the community responded positively. The elders and youth were both very happy to have the chance to talk to one another, and for their voices to be heard. The Umpumulo community members’ ideas and concerns have been passed on to the health and wellness coordinator for the local circuit and further work will be done to address the many burning issues that were brought to the surface during the conversations.

Now that the participants have been trained and empowered in community capacity enhancement, they are asked to return to their communities and to use the tools they gained to engage their communities in further projects to prevent the spread of HIV & AIDS. The entire workshop serves as a branch of mainstreaming, which is the main strategy that LUCSA uses to combat HIV & AIDS.